CMS Basics

Baseline: main 23.0+. Features newer than baseline are marked Since.

Site management layer above the framework — sites, templates, menus, content areas. Landing sites / Sites24: skill

bitrix-landing

Sites (Multisite)

ORM tablet:

\Bitrix\Main\SiteTable

→ table

b_lang

(

main/lib/SiteTable.php

). Legacy:

CSite

Key fields:

LID

(primary, e.g.

s1

NAME

DIR

DOC_ROOT

SERVER_NAME

SITE_NAME

LANGUAGE_ID

CULTURE_ID

ACTIVE

DEF

php

$site = \Bitrix\Main\SiteTable::getRow([
    'filter' => ['=LID' => SITE_ID],
    'select' => ['LID', 'DIR', 'SERVER_NAME', 'DOC_ROOT', 'LANGUAGE_ID'],
]);

$docRoot = \Bitrix\Main\SiteTable::getDocumentRoot(SITE_ID);

SITE_ID

SITE_DIR

are available after kernel init. Resolve site by host/path:

SiteTable::getByDomain($host, $directory)

Site Templates

Location:

/local/templates/<template_id>/

/local/templates/mytemplate/
├── header.php
├── footer.php
├── description.php       # Template meta ($arTemplate), incl. EDITOR_STYLES
├── styles.css            # Content styles — also loaded by the visual editor
├── template_styles.css   # Template frame styles (header/footer/grid)
├── .styles.php           # Visual editor style list entries
├── components/           # Template-level component overrides
├── page_templates/       # Page layout templates
└── lang/

#WORK_AREA#
— required placeholder in the site template (often a single-file template or between

header.php

footer.php

flow). The kernel injects the page body at

#WORK_AREA#

. Missing marker → admin error “set the #WORK_AREA# separator”.

Template selected per site in Admin → Sites → Edit. Prefer

/local/templates/

, not

/bitrix/templates/

Styles (CSS)

Store CSS next to the owner of the markup:

Owner of markup	Where CSS lives
Site frame ( `header.php` / `footer.php` , grid, background)	`template_styles.css` of the site template
Page content that must be styleable in the visual editor	`styles.css` + `.styles.php` of the site template
Component template markup ( `template.php` )	`style.css` next to the component template
JS-extension UI loaded via `Extension::load()`	CSS inside the extension ( `config.php` `css` key) — skill `bitrix-extensions`
One-off page CSS	`Asset::getInstance()->addCss()` / classic `SetAdditionalCSS()`

styles.css
vs
template_styles.css
: the visual editor renders content in an iframe and injects

styles.css

into its

<head>

— never put site-frame rules there, or they distort the editor; keep them in

template_styles.css

. Both files are editable in Admin → Settings → Product settings → Sites → Site templates (tabs "Site styles" / "Template styles").

Visual editor style list —

.styles.php

in the template returns entries (CSS rule itself goes to

styles.css

php

return [
    'example' => [                     // array key = CSS class name
        'tag' => 'p',                  // tag(s) the style applies to; comma-separated list allowed
        'title' => 'Test style',       // name shown in the editor
        'html' => '<span style="...">Preview</span>', // optional styled preview
        // optional 'section' => groups entries in the editor's style dropdown
    ],
];

Editor-only CSS files —

EDITOR_STYLES

in the template's

description.php

(

$arTemplate

'EDITOR_STYLES' => ['/bitrix/css/main/bootstrap.css', ...]

. Loaded only in the visual editor; include them separately for the public site if needed.

Include APIs:

php

$APPLICATION->ShowCSS();          // classic, in header.php <head>: outputs page + template CSS set
$APPLICATION->SetAdditionalCSS('/local/templates/demo/additional.css'); // classic add to that set

\Bitrix\Main\Page\Asset::getInstance()->addCss(SITE_TEMPLATE_PATH . '/styles/page.css');
// 2nd param $additional=true → file goes to the template set, after styles.css / template_styles.css

\Bitrix\Main\UI\Extension::load('demo.product-card'); // extension JS+CSS from its config.php

Prefer

Asset::addCss()

(D7) or

Extension::load()

for new code;

ShowCSS()

SetAdditionalCSS()

belong to classic site templates.

Optimization (Admin → Settings → Product settings → Module settings → Main module): merge CSS files (

main

option

optimize_css_files

), use existing

.min

versions, gzip copies (

compres_css_js_files

, requires zlib). Merge applies only to Asset-registered CSS, is skipped in the admin section and Ajax mode, and can be disabled via

disableOptimizeCss()

. Merged files live in

/bitrix/cache/css/<SITE_ID>/<template>/

(kernel /

template_<hash>

page_<hash>

sets) — after editing CSS clear the Bitrix cache (and browser cache) if the old look persists.

Section and Access Files

.section.php

Per-directory file (walked from current path up to site root). Typical contents:

php

<?php
$sSectionName = 'News';
$arDirProperties = [
    'TITLE' => 'News section',
    'keywords' => 'news, updates',
    'description' => 'Company news',
];

```
$sSectionName
```
— used for breadcrumbs (
```
GetNavChain
```
).

$arDirProperties

— directory properties; read via

$APPLICATION->GetDirProperty()

/ merged into

$APPLICATION->GetProperty()

.access.php

Per-directory file permissions (

PERM[...]

). Managed by

$APPLICATION->SetFileAccessPermission()

/ admin UI. Do not hand-edit unless you know the format; kernel includes it when resolving file rights.

Page Properties

php

$APPLICATION->SetPageProperty('title', 'About');
$APPLICATION->SetPageProperty('description', 'About the company');
$APPLICATION->SetPageProperty('keywords', 'about');

$title = $APPLICATION->GetPageProperty('title', 'Default');
// GetProperty: page first, then directory (.section.php), then default
$desc = $APPLICATION->GetProperty('description');

```
SetPageProperty
```
/
```
GetPageProperty
```
— current page only.

SetDirProperty

GetDirProperty

— directory props (often from

.section.php

```
GetProperty
```
— page → dir → default.

Common keys:

title

description

keywords

, plus custom uppercase IDs.

Menus

Menu types per site (
```
top
```
,
```
left
```
, …).
Files:
```
/.top.menu.php
```
,
```
/.left.menu.php
```
in site root or section.
Component:
```
bitrix:menu
```
.

Page Templates

/local/templates/<id>/page_templates/

— reusable layouts for the visual editor.

Include Areas

bitrix:main.include

— editable content blocks:

php

$APPLICATION->IncludeComponent('bitrix:main.include', '', [
    'AREA_FILE_SHOW' => 'file',
    'PATH' => '/include/phone.php',
]);

Files typically under

/include/

/local/include/

Breadcrumbs

Auto from
```
$sSectionName
```
in
```
.section.php
```
along the path.

Manual:

$APPLICATION->AddChainItem('Title', '/path/')

Component:
```
bitrix:breadcrumb
```
.

Users and Groups

```
CUser
```
,
```
\Bitrix\Main\UserTable
```
— users.
Groups control permissions via
```
\CMain::GetUserRight()
```
and group IDs.
User fields (UF) —
```
CUserTypeEntity
```
,
```
\Bitrix\Main\UserFieldTable
```
; register in module
```
DoInstall
```
; access via
```
USER.UF_*
```
in ORM or user fields API.

Admin Panel

/bitrix/admin/

— admin scripts. Custom pages via module install admin files, or modern UI (

bitrix-ui

). Legacy lists:

CAdminList

CAdminForm

Checklist

Site-specific code checks
```
SITE_ID
```
/
```
SITE_DIR
```
.
Template has
```
#WORK_AREA#
```
; overrides in
```
/local/templates/
```
.
Site-frame CSS in
```
template_styles.css
```
; editor-visible content CSS in
```
styles.css
```
(+
```
.styles.php
```
); component CSS in the template's
```
style.css
```
; new code uses
```
Asset::addCss()
```
/
```
Extension::load()
```
.
Section meta/breadcrumbs via
```
.section.php
```
; rights via
```
.access.php
```
/ API.
Page meta via
```
SetPageProperty
```
/
```
GetProperty
```
.
Menus via
```
.menu.php
```
or Admin UI; includes for editable fragments.
Landings / composite sites →
```
bitrix-landing
```
when applicable.

bitrix-cms-basics

NPX Install

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